POS1273 EVALUATION OF THE SAFETY PROFILE OF COVID-19 VACCINES IN CHILD PATIENTS USING BIOLOGICAL THERAPY
Authors: B. Sözeri, R. E. Yigit
Journal: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (2022)

Background Coronavirus vaccines have been widely applied all over the world after the coronavirus pandemic. There are inactivated vaccines and mRNA vaccines in our country. There is no clear guideline for the vaccination programs of patients receiving immunosuppressive therapy, especially childhood. Objectives For this reason, we wanted to evaluate the frequency of side effects developed after covid-19 vaccine in pediatric patients diagnosed with rheumatic disease using biological therapy and nonbiologic disease modifiying drugs Methods A total of 226 patients over the age of 12, who were followed up in the pediatric rheumatology clinic of the University of Health Sciences, Umraniye Training and Research Hospital, using biological therapy and were vaccinated against Covid-19, were included in the study. The standard questionnaire forms were filled in face-to-face after each administration for both vaccines. The patient, who had any serious side effects, was followed up in the hospital. Results Of the 226 patients included in the study, 97 were male and 128 were female. Their mean age was 16.4 + 2.4. It was determined that 88.4% (n=200) of the patients had mRNA vaccine and 11.6% (n=26) had inactivated vaccine. 105 of the patients were using biologic drugs during vaccination. Of these, 63 (27.9%) patients were treated with anti-TNF drugs (46 adalimumab, 10 etanercept, 6 inflixmab), 32 patients were anti-il-1 (30 canakinumab, 2 anakirna), 4 patients were anti-il-6, 3 patients were anti-il-17, 3 patient was receiving abatacept and 1 patient was receiving rituximab. 121 patients were using DMARDs. Of these, 61 were using colchicine. 26.5% (n=60) of the patients had covid infection before vaccination. Side effects were observed in 180 of our patients. No side effects were observed in 46 patients. Pain at the injection site was the most common among them, 72.6% (n=164). Headache was seen in 16.8% (n=38) of the patients, myalgia in 18.1% (n=41), fever in 16.4% (n=37) and arthralgia in 6.6% (n=15). The frequency of serious adverse events was determined as 0.9%(n=2). Both patients were followed up in the ward. When the patients were compared in terms of covid infection and gender, there was no significant difference in the frequency of side effects. When the vaccines were compared, the incidence of side effects in the mRNA vaccine was statistically significantly higher (p=0.001). Pain at the injection site was significantly less frequent in the inactivated vaccine (p=0.004). In terms of drug distribution, there was no significant difference in the frequency of side effects between patients using biologic drugs and DMARDs. p=0.004) There was no statistically significant difference in the frequency of side effects when the patients using dmard were compared as colcicine and other dmards. Conclusion In our study, we have shown that the use of vaccines in individuals with adolescent rheumatological diseases is safe and that the biological treatments used by the patients do not cause an increase in the risk of vaccine side effects. In addition; We have shown in our study that the side-effect profile of the inactivated vaccine used in our country is milder than the mRNA vaccine, and that it affects daily life less. Another result of our study was that anti-TNF drugs could cause a decrease in pain sensation due to the relationship of anti-TNF with pain pathways. References [1]Shenoy P, Ahmed S, Paul A, Cherian S, Vijayan A, Babu SA, Sukumaran A. Inactivated vaccines may not provide adequate protection in immunosuppressed patients with rheumatic diseases Ann Rheum Dis. 2022 Feb;81(2):295-296 Disclosure of Interests None declared